Money 2001 Standard by Microsoft

Description

Who needs a personal finance package on their PC? Well if you pay bills, own shares, plan to make a will, write cheques, have a mortgage… in fact if you are an earning, spending consumer in the 21st century, a package like Money will make your affairs easier to manage. It should even make you a little richer.

Money has quite a pedigree. Though Microsoft only entered the personal finance market a few years ago, it has quickly carved a big slice of the market. Microsoft knows we all want to get our finances in order; it also knows that, to most of us, they are a terrifying mystery. So, with yearly updates, it has honed Money so even the financially illiterate can compile a personal financial resumé in around half an hour as the software pumps you with questions. Money then swallows the details of accounts, endowments, mortgages and investments–your whole financial life in fact–and tidily regurgitates them in a tidy web browser style.

This exercise is a useful financial discipline in itself, forcing you to take a short hard look at your finances, and get organised. Money then provides figures on your net worth, your projected wealth in the next month, year or decade and give you hints on making your cash work better.

And the browser style makes it simple. You click links to take you to your bills and view quickly which are due (and which overdue). Click on accounts to see your current account, then click an Internet link to go online and download your account details from your bank, should you choose. Users of earlier editions, such as Money 2000 will find that 2001 seamlessly updates their existing files. —John Rennie

Platforms

Windows NT, Windows 95, Windows 98, Windows 2000, Windows Me